BJP unearths irregularities in road work
Shimla, April 3
The five-member committee set up by the BJP to enquire the Sahaul-Drambla road construction scam has detected a large-scale irregularities in the award of tenders and construction, besides payments to benefit the favoured contractors.

SBI staff on indefinite strike
Chandigarh, April 3
Banking services were affected across Himachal Pradesh after SBI employees went on an indefinite strike from today. They are demanding revision of pension at 50 per cent of the last pay drawn and provision of family pension on a par with other banks.

Not more than 2 road projects for contractors: CM
Shimla, April 3
Admitting that there had been delay in laying of roads by the Public Works Department (PWD), Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today announced in the Vidhan Sabha that contractors would not be awarded more than two projects at a time.

Daily wage earners to be regularised
Kumarhatti, April 3
Taking notice of a news item which appeared in The Tribune on March 27 the state government has decided to regularise the services of daily wage workers in a phased manner.

House adopts resolution on pension to Army men
Shimla, April 3
The Himachal Assembly today unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Centre to enhance the pension of retired Army personnel of subedar and lower ranks to bring it on a par with other categories of employees in accordance with the recommendations of the fifth pay commission.

Watershed schemes to benefit 36 panchayats
Nurpur, April 3
The Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, has sanctioned three watershed development projects for Nurpur Assembly segment under centrally sponsored Integrated Wasteland Development Programme.

Women’s association threatens stir
Mandi, April 3
The All India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA), a Leftist women outfit, has warned that it will launch an agitation against state government as it has failed to grant 40 per cent work to women under the Employment Guarantee Scheme and failed to enforce the PNDT Act to protect the female child in the state.

Dhumal flays UPA govt for price hike
Hoshiarpur, April 3
Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, has strongly criticised the UPA government for its alleged failure in controlling prices due to which it had become difficult for the common man to make both ends meet. He said rates of almost all essential commodities had shot up many times in the past two-three months.

Village cries for regular water supply
Chandigarh, April 3
The Bilaspur Sudhar Sabha, Chandigarh, is sore at the acute shortage of potable water at Baran Da Ghat village in Ghumarwain tehsil of Bilaspur district.

Mankotia to give list of tainted officers to Sonia
Shimla, April 3
Taking on Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, on the issue of corruption Maj Vijay Singh Mankotia , a senior Congress leader, today asserted that he would soon submit the list of tainted officers and leaders to party president, Sonia Gandhi, along with evidence.

BJP postpones meeting
Mandi, April 3
The postponement of the BJP’s state executive committee meeting, which was to be addressed by BJP chief Rajnath Singh here tomorrow has upset the BJP cadre and saffron parivar.

One killed, 2 hurt in mishap
Nahan, April 3
Shalender Kumar was killed on the spot and two other occupants of car
(HP-18-2785) were injured critically as the car met with an accident near Naina Tikkar on the Nahan-Shimla road today.

Shimla, April 3
The five-member committee set up by the BJP to enquire the Sahaul-Drambla road construction scam has detected a large-scale irregularities in the award of tenders and construction, besides payments to benefit the favoured contractors.

The panel headed by I.D.Dhiman comprising Mohinder Singh, Ramesh Dhwala, Ravinder Ravi and Dr Rajiv Bindal, all legislators, detected excess payment of Rs 1.47 crore in widening a 2100 m stretch of road. Bills amounting to about Rs 35 lakh are still pending and as such the total amount involved in the scam is likely to go up.

Mr P.K.Dhumal, leader of the BJP in the Vidhan Sabha, said the committee visited the site and made actual measurements of the work executed with the help of a former executive engineer. The total earth work and disposal of the excavated material was 11,060 cubic metre and the total expenditure on it worked out at Rs 8,43, 344 lakh and the retaining and breast wall (562.90 cubic metre)cost Rs 8.18,569 lakh. As such the total work carried out was worth Rs 16,61,913 as against Rs 1,64,27,344 already paid to contractors.

Only superficial excavation had been carried out on the hillside and the debris was spread on the road or thrown on slopes. However, fraudulent payments had been made for the excavation and it had been shown that the debris was disposed of at a distance of over 6 km.

There was no bearing or proper tarring which made the road worse after widening. He demanded that a copy of the measurement book on the basis of which payments had been made should be released so that the House could know the basis of the payments.

He said the party had to set up its own committee as the government refused to hand over the inquiry to the vigilance and also turned down the plea for setting up a committee of the House. He said the party would stick to its demand for a CBI probe and it would take up the matter at an appropriate level.

Chandigarh, April 3
Banking services were affected across Himachal Pradesh after SBI employees went on an indefinite strike from today. They are demanding revision of pension at 50 per cent of the last pay drawn and provision of family pension on a par with other banks.

SBI Officers Association deputy general secretary D.K. Sharma claimed at Shimla that complete strike was observed in all 151 branch offices in the state. He said the indefinite strike being observed on a call given by the All-India State Bank Officers Federation (AISBOF) and the All-India State Bank Staff Federation (AISBSF) would only be called off after the government agreed to their demands.

He, however, regretted inconvenience caused to the general public, saying they were on strike after exhausting all other avenues for the resolution of their demands. The employees also held a demonstration outside the main branch of the SBI here and raised slogans against the Central Government and the bank management.

DHARAMSALA: Addressing a demonstration organised in front of the Dharamsala branch of the bank, Mr Vinod Sharma of the SBI Officers Association said their demands included grant of family pension on a par with the industry, upgrading of basic pension of all past retirees taking into account the current merger of index at 2,288 points and revision of the DA formula.

Mr Pradeep Sharma and Mr Madan Verma said the superannuating scheme in the SBI was an exclusive one and had no linkage to superannuating. There is no example of any organisation receiving the government sanction to run their own pension fund other than the SBI.

The SBI Staff Association condemned the alleged indifferent attitude of the Central Government towards these issues.

MANDI:
In a joint statement issued here on Monday after the SBI officers held a rally in front of their office, regional branch secretary of the SBI Officers Association K.K. Goel and branch secretary Pawan Kumar said the officers were on indefinite strike as the bank management and the government had failed to fulfil their long-pending demands.

They said if their demands were not met, there would be unrest in the country for which the government and the SBI management would be responsible.

Shimla, April 3
The blueprint for the Vidhan Sabha building to be constructed at an estimated cost of over Rs 10 crore for holding of the winter session at Dharamsala has been approved.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh yesterday approved the blueprint of the building during a meeting with PWD Secretary Subhash Negi, Engineer-in-Chief S.P. Negi and the chief architect.

Sources said the building, which was likely to be ready before the holding of the assembly session at Dharamsala during the next winter, would have two blocks.

One will be the main Vidhan Sabha premise, which will have the House, Speakers Chamber, various galleries for visitors, officers and the Press, lounges and lobbies for the ruling and opposition parties. There will also be a control room and a dining hall.

The second building will have the Chief Minister’s chamber, ministers’ rooms and other facilities. “Since the session will be a brief one, lasting four to five days, it is being proposed that the second block can be used by the Chief Minister during his winter sojourn for administrative purpose,” said a senior official.

Though the estimated cost of the building is about Rs 10 crore, Mr Virbhadra Singh has already stated that funds would not be a constraint.

Directions have already been issued that the building should be complete for holding of the next assembly session.

It is for the first time this year that the winter session of the assembly was held in Dharamsala for four days.

This was done by the Chief Minister to give importance to the lower areas of the state, particularly Kangra, to dispel allegations of regional discrimination being levelled by the Opposition and some of his own party men.

Shimla, April 3
Admitting that there had been delay in laying of roads by the Public Works Department (PWD), Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today announced in the Vidhan Sabha that contractors would not be awarded more than two projects at a time.

He also said that the government would not hesitate from going for outsourcing to ensure that its plan for expansion and upgrading of roads was executed within scheduled time.

Replying to a volley of questions regarding delay in preparation of detailed project reports and laying of roads, he said work invariably got delayed where forest land was involved. However, with the PWD and the Forest Department working in close coordination, the situation had improved of late. The objections were being removed promptly to get clearance from the Centre.

The contractors also delayed work as they managed to get several projects at a time, but did not have the resources to execute them simultaneously. Henceforth, no contractor would be sanctioned more than two projects at a time. New project would be awarded only after the completion of the existing one.

The department had prepared 1,575 detailed project reports
(DPRs) involving an expenditure of Rs 1,896 crore out of which 1,182 projects had already been sanctioned. As many as 424 DPRs pertaining to priority of legislators and roads approved under the World Bank phase -II project were under finalisation.

Since March, 2003, 1,481 projects for laying of roads and bridges under the
PMGSY, the World Bank and NABARD programmes were under implementation. Of these, 436 projects had been completed.

He said there was no proposal to set up a degree college at Parwanoo, but the government could consider opening an institution at Kasuali or some other place.

He informed Maj Vijay Singh Mankotia (Congress) that 11 IAS officers, four IPS officers and as many Indian Forest Service officers had rented out their properties to various departments, boards and corporations. Licence fee was being charged from them as per rules.

Kumarhatti, April 3
Taking notice of a news item which appeared in The Tribune on March 27 the state government has decided to regularise the services of daily wage workers in a phased manner. Confirming this to an AITUC delegation on March 30, Mr Virbhadra Singh CM, has assured to regularise the daily wagers who had completed 240 days of working in a year for 10 years.

Mr Jagdish Bharadwaj, chief of the AITUC, who led the delegation has said that as per state government’s assurance in all 17,000 workers would be regularised.

The BJP-led previous government had assured to regularise the daily wagers who had completed nine years. The Congress government assured to regularise the daily wagers who had completed eight years.

The worst affected were the daily wagers in the Forest Department. The government has also assured AITUC delegation to set up the Labour Welfare Board.

Shimla, April 3
The Himachal Assembly today unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Centre to enhance the pension of retired Army personnel of subedar and lower ranks to bring it on a par with other categories of employees in accordance with the recommendations of the fifth pay commission.

The issue was raised by Maj Vijay Singh Mankotia of the Congress under rule 117 and it was supported by members from both sides.

Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, said anomalies in the pensions of various categories had been persisting for long. The Centre had, in response to the demand for one-rank-one-pension, taken certain steps, but these were inadequate and the anomalies had not been removed completely.

The house had passed a resolution to this effect in the past also.

He said the condition of 33 years of minimum service for enhanced pensionary benefits was ridiculous in case of lower ranks of Army as they retired at the age of 35 years with a maximum service of 15 to 18 years.

He said the persistence of anomalies in pensions was creating a divide in the force which did not auger well. The lower ranks who won the wars for the country must be given their due.

Supporting the motion, Mr P.K. Dhumal, leader of the BJP group, said the five northern states had been sending maximum persons to the Army and they should jointly take up the matter. He said armed with the resolution of the House, the state’s MPs would be able to raise the issue with force.

The issue of religious conversions was also raised in the House by Mr Jai Ram Thakur (BJP) who urged the government to bring a legislation to check the growing activities of Christian missionaries in the state who were giving allurement to poor Hindus for converting to Christianity.

Mr Virbhadra Singh said that government would take all required steps to prevent forcible religious conversions in the state. He said as per a CID report of 2002, 540 Hindus adopted Christianity at various places but about 300 of them reconverted to their parent religion subsequently.

Besides allurement, social discrimination practised in Hindu society against certain castes was also a factor that contributed to conversions. He said there was a need to change the mindset to ensure equal status to all sections.

Nurpur, April 3
The Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, has sanctioned three watershed development projects for Nurpur Assembly segment under centrally sponsored Integrated Wasteland Development Programme. Revenue and Rural Development Minister Sat Mahajan here stated this at a press conference yesterday. He said 36 gram panchayats would be covered under Chakki, Bharal and Chhonch watershed development projects on which Rs 750 crore would be spent in five years.

He informed these projects would usher green revolution and improve economic condition of the farmers. “Under these projects check dams will be built, fruit plants will be planted and measures to protect catchment areas from soil erosion adopted “ he added.

The minister informed that apart from these projects the World Bank-funded Mid Himalaya Watershed Development would benefit 18 gram panchayats of Nurpur Assembly segment on which Rs 8 crore would be spent in five years.

Garelli catchment area watershed project was in progress covering 10 gram panchayats in the area and added that all gram panchayats of Nurpur Assembly constituency would be covered under watershed projects.

Under the Swajaldhara Scheme the state government would install 10 handpumps in Dalit villages in the area, the minister said.

Mandi, April 3
The All India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA), a Leftist women outfit, has warned that it will launch an agitation against state government as it has failed to grant 40 per cent work to women under the Employment Guarantee Scheme and failed to enforce the PNDT Act to protect the female child in the state.

In a joint statement issued here after the AIDWA’s annual meeting yesterday its president, Mrs. Satya Galoda, and secretary Mrs. Santosh Kapur stated that the state government should strengthen the public distribution system and identify the actual number of families living below the poverty line to improve their condition.

The AIDWA urged the government to expedite efforts to make it mandatory that the 40 per cent of work under the newly implemented Employment Guarantee Scheme was given to women in the state. “The PNDT Act should
been forced to check female foeticide in the state”, the leaders added.

The AIDWA activists warned that the UPA government was dithering over the implementation of the common minimum programme’s agenda.

Hoshiarpur, April 3
Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, has strongly criticised the UPA government for its alleged failure in controlling prices due to which it had become difficult for the common man to make both ends meet. He said rates of almost all essential commodities had shot up many times in the past two-three months.

Talking to this correspondent here yesterday, Mr Dhumal alleged that whenever the Congress came to power, rates of essential commodities rose
sharply.

Criticising the proposed import of 500 lakh tonnes of wheat from Australia, Mr Dhumal said this had clearly proved that the UPA government was anti-farmer. During the NDA regime, there were huge stocks of wheat and rice in godowns and both the commodities were supplied at cheap rates to Antodiya families.

Referring to the ongoing controversy over the office of profit issue , Mr Dhumal said he had taken up the issue of 12 Parliamentary Secretaries in Himachal Pradesh. A memorandum was also submitted to the Governor in this connection.

Referring to the development of Himachal Pradesh, he severely criticised Mr Virbhadra Singh’s government and said more than 9.50 lakh youth of the state were facing unemployment.

Chandigarh, April 3
The Bilaspur Sudhar Sabha, Chandigarh, is sore at the acute shortage of potable water at Baran Da Ghat village in Ghumarwain tehsil of Bilaspur district.

In a press note, the sabha said water was being provided to the village under a scheme for upper areas by the Irrigation and Public Health Department, Bharari-Ladhyani.

But the village had been receiving poor water supply for the past few days. It alleged that some influential people of the area, living on a higher ground, had obtained water connections, thus affecting the water supply of the village.

The problem persisted despite assurances by the authorities concerned.

It has urged Irrigation and Public Health Minister Kaul Singh to take action and restore regular water supply to the village.

Palampur, April 3
Mr K.G. Butail was today unanimously elected president of the Kangra Valley Tea Planters Association.

He said the industry was passing through serious crises for the past six years, in spite the fact that there was grate demand for Kangra tea in the international market. Owing to high cost of production, local tea growers were finding it difficult to maintain their tea plantations in the region.

He said he would make earnest efforts to bail out the tea industry from the present crises.

Weather had also been unfavorable for the past few years, he said. Though the input costs had gone up, the tea prices in the international market had come down. This was affecting the industry, he added.

He said he would make efforts for the improvement in the quality of tea produced in Kangra valley so that it could compete with the tea varieties grown in the other parts of the world and could fetch better price.

Mr Butail appealed to Chief Minister Vir Bhadara Singh to come forward and rescue the Kangra tea industry and announce a special package for its rehabilitation.

Shimla, April 3
Taking on Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, on the issue of corruption Maj Vijay Singh Mankotia , a senior Congress leader, today asserted that he would soon submit the list of tainted officers and leaders to party president, Sonia Gandhi, along with evidence.

Reacting sharply to the reported remarks of the Chief Minister that “Maj Mankotia should either substantiate his charges or keep shut”, he said as persons close to Mr Virbhadra Singh were exploiting the system there was no point producing evidence before him. He had more than once brought specific cases of corruption to his notice but to no avail. He said the tone and tenor of Mr Virbhadra Singh indicated that he was disturbed.

He said he and other legislators, including Mr Virbhadra Singh, were accountable to Mrs Gandhi under whose leadership the party had won the elections. If required he would also submit the list of corrupt officers to the Central Vigilance Commission.

He said only last week he had raised the issue of corruption in transfers of government servants in the meeting of the Congress legislative party. He had not only mentioned the names of an employee leader and a student leader but had also quoted specific instances.

He said he did not have the resources to investigate all the cases of corruption which had been brought to his notice. However, he would rely on documentary evidence and submit only those cases to Mrs Gandhi which could be substantiated.

Mandi, April 3
The postponement of the BJP’s state executive committee meeting, which was to be addressed by BJP chief Rajnath Singh here tomorrow has upset the BJP cadre and saffron parivar.

BJP’s state president Suresh Bhardwaj said programme had been changed due to elections in Assam and Tamil Nadu. “Mr Rajnath Singh will reach Shimla on April 27 and will make way for Mandi via Bilaspur on April 28,” he added.
— TNS

Nahan, April 3
Shalender Kumar was killed on the spot and two other occupants of car
(HP-18-2785) were injured critically as the car met with an accident near Naina Tikkar on the Nahan-Shimla road today.

The driver of the car lost controls the vehicle and it rolled into a khud.

Body of Shailender Kumar was handed over to his family after a postmortem. Injured Vijay and Anju were rushed to Solan district Hospital.